Daisuke Matsuzaka
There are many in Japan who think that the next Japanese star in the major leagues will be a dominant pitcher by the name of Daisuke Matsuzaka. He has been a force at the top of the rotation for the Seibu Lions, helped Japan win the Bronze in the 2004 Summer Olympics (he actually beat Cuba in the preliminaries), and has his eye on the Major Leagues as early as the 2006 season. Of course, he will not be eligible for free agency for another 3 seasons, but it is possible that his team (having just been sold) could post him to the highest bidder (much as what happened with Ichiro) as soon as this year.
Daisuke Matsuzaka Height: 182cm (5'10) Weight: 85kg (185lbs) DOB: 09/13/1980 Home: Tokyo Year W L G CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP WHIP ERA +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1999 16 5 25 6 2 0 180.0 124 55 52 14 87 151 8 5 1.17 2.60 2000 14 7 27 6 2 0 167.6 132 85 74 12 95 144 4 2 1.35 3.97 2001 15 15 33 12 2 1 240.3 184 104 96 27 117 214 8 9 1.25 3.60 2002 6 2 14 2 0 0 73.3 60 30 30 13 15 78 7 2 1.02 3.68 2003 16 7 29 8 2 0 194.3 165 71 61 13 63 215 9 4 1.17 2.83 2004 10 6 23 10 5 0 146.3 127 50 47 7 42 127 6 5 1.16 2.90 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 77 42 151 44 13 1 1001.8 792 395 360 86 419 929 42 27 1.21 3.23 Interesting facts: - Was the #1 pick of the Seibu Lions in the 1999 draft - Pitched a 1-run CG against the USA all-stars in the 2004 USA/Japan series. - Helped the Lions win the 2004 Japan Championships; there 1st such victory in 12 years. - Recently signed a contract worth 250 million yen (~$2,500,000) per season.
There are questions about Matsuzaka’s health and rightly so given the extreme amount of work before the age of 25 (44 CGs!!). It is speculated that the Lions would be willing to offer him to the highest MLB team quickly, before his workload catches up with him. Regardless, I would imagine that when he finally does come to play in the majors, then he will command a hefty salary.
-m
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